Chainmail used to be used solely for the purpose of protecting knights in battle. Fast forward to today and you have chainmail jewelry, curtains, clothing and much more! It's fashion versus function these days instead of the other way around.

For those who love the look, feel and history of chainmail there is no better resource for buying chainmail or finding information on making chainmail than this community.

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Chain-Chain-Chainmail Saved Many A Knight

His coat of mail, made of the magical metal mithril, saved Frodo Baggins from being skewered by a cave troll in The Fellowship of the Ring. These days, mail is known as “chainmail” and can be found in everything from historic re-enactments to jewelry.

Chainmail is armor that’s made of small metal rings linked together to form a mesh resistant to attack. The word “mail” actually refers to the armor material and not to the garment that’s made from it.

Garments made from chainmail have different names. For instance, Frodo’s coat was probably a byrnie, a waist-length shirt, or a hauberk, a knee-length shirt. Chainmail also can be made into leggings called chausses, hoods called coifs and mittens called mitons. Knights often wore mail collars hanging from their helmets that were called camail or aventail. Other warriors wore mail collars called a pixane or a standard strapped around their necks.

Historians think chainmail was invented some time in civilization’s first millennium. Interestingly, it was probably invented independently in both Asia and Europe. The earliest examples of chain mail are from a 4th century BC Celtic chieftain's burial site found in Romania. The Roman army is believed to have adopted chainmail technology after fighting the Gauls in what is now northern Italy.

Chainmail was prominently used in the Dark Ages, the High Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In Europe it reached its height during the 13th century, when mail covered the entire body of a fighter. Chainmail began to wane in the 14th century as plate armor came into use. However, it was still used widely by many soldiers.

Armor made of mail was an effective defense again penetration by piercing weapons (like the cave troll’s spear) and against slashing blows from swords and knives. Mail’s flexibility meant that a blow could injure its wearer, especially from a blunt weapon like a mace. However, chainmail was no defense againt head trauma; hence, warriors often wore helms over their coifs.

Chainmail was made by linking the rings together in a pattern, the most common being the 4-to-1, with each ring linked to four others. Both solid rings and riveted rings were used, but riveted rings were more common because there was less change of them splitting open if hit. Chainmail was first made using wrought iron, but later was built of wrought steel, which allowed the armor to be treated by heat. Obviously, despite its flexibility and protection, one of mail’s real drawbacks is its weight.

Finally, back to our friend Frodo and his story. When the Lord of the Rings film trilogy was made in New Zealand, there would have been no way to afford the cost of genuine chainmail coats for the cast. Instead, Weta Tenzan Chain Maille, a division of Wingnut Entertainment, created thousands of mail coats using ABS plastic rings sprayed with metallic paint. Metal coats were used only in close-ups where viewers could have seen that the rings were plastic.